The Kerala case had made public the differences between Indira and Feroze Gandhi.
This was the first incident of dismissal of an elected state government through Article 356 of the Constitution. Indira Gandhi also played a major political role for the first time in 1959 as Congress President. The communist government of Kerala led by EMS Namboodiripad was his target. The dismissal of the communist government took place on the initiative of Indira Gandhi. Indira’s husband Firoz Gandhi was among those who strongly opposed it.
During this time, Indira wrote to her friend Dorothy Norman, “The vast ocean of troubles is swallowing me. Firoz has always been angry with my existence, but now that I have become the president, he shows such hostility that the atmosphere seems to be turning poisonous. They are leaning towards the Communists just to increase the problems for me and are ruining my hard work as Congress President.”
Firoz raised questions on power while being in the ruling party
In 1957, Firoz Gandhi was elected MP from Rae Bareli for the second time, but despite being in the ruling party, he was ahead in questioning the wrong decisions of the government from Parliament to the streets. Firoz’s differences with Indira had increased in his personal life also. The dismissal of the Kerala government further agitated Firoz.
According to senior journalist Sagarika Ghosh’s book “Indira”, Kerala made the differences between husband and wife public. Firoz had been continuously speaking out against the foolishness of the dismissal and had become quite embittered by his wife’s undemocratic action. At the breakfast table, Firoz said to Indira, “This is not right at all. You are threatening people. You are a fascist. An angry Indira came out of the room saying, “You are calling me a fascist, this cannot be tolerated at all.”
Firoz Gandhi and Indira Gandhi
Growing distance between Indira and Firoz
During this time, Indira wrote to her friend Dorothy Norman, “The vast ocean of troubles is swallowing me. Firoz has always been angry with my existence, but now that I have become the president, he shows such hostility that the atmosphere seems to be turning poisonous. They are leaning towards the Communists just to increase the problems for me and are ruining my hard work as Congress President.”
In less than a year, Indira resigned from the post of Congress President. On October 30, 1959, he wrote to his father, “For the last eight years I have worked as much as possible. Feeling like I could never do enough… Last year came a moment when I felt light, as if I had paid off my last debt. I felt like I was a bird in a small cage.”
Why did you resign?
Why did Indira resign from the post of Congress President then? Sagarika Ghosh quotes Indira’s media advisor HY Sharda Prasad, “While serving as Congress President, he did not have a smooth relationship with his father. There were differences among them on the issue of Kerala. Firoz Gandhi’s health also became the reason for his sudden resignation.” Indira Gandhi later denied her decisive role in the dismissal of the Kerala government. He said that his role in this was not as big as was publicized. This was not possible without the Centre’s agreement.
It is true that father and Firoz were not happy with this but Home Minister Pant was satisfied that this should be the case. According to Pandit Nehru’s biographer Sarvepalli Gopal, this decision tarnished Nehru’s image and weakened his position.
Pandit jawaharlal nehru
Did Indira become president under pressure?
In that party meeting in early 1959, no one had openly opposed the nomination of Indira Gandhi as the Congress President, but Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant had unsuccessfully tried to block the way citing her delicate health.
According to famous journalist Kuldeep Nayyar, Pant had said, “The Congress President has to travel long distances across the country and his health may come in the way.” Pandit Nehru had replied to Pant in a somewhat louder voice, “He is healthier than both of us and is capable of working longer.” But Indira Gandhi had told her biographer Dom Moraes about this that she did not want to become Congress President. Father also did not want this. She agreed to this under pressure from senior party leaders.
According to Indira, the then Congress President UN Dhebar told her, “Instead of criticizing things from outside, you should come within and work. When Congress is being attacked then you should come forward to defend it. Do these people speak boldly…nobody does anything. According to Indira, “I am sad that I did not play an active role earlier. Had I done this, I would have been able to bring more happiness to my father.”
Not a delicate flower, but a spark of flame
In her very first address at the party meeting as President on 2 February 1959, Indira Gandhi gave a glimpse of her effective role. In this address, he gave the message of the future Congress to both inside and outside the party by repeating the lines from the song of the film Rani Roopmati, “We are the women of India, we are not soft flowers, we are the spark of flame”, both inside and outside the party.
The Prime Minister’s daughter was now also the President of the Congress. In both roles his influence was visible on the government. Pandit Nehru was a strong opponent of forming the state on linguistic basis, but giving preference to political equations was Indira’s specialty, this became clear in the initial phase itself. Bombay State, which was agitating on linguistic basis, became the states named Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960. Then Indira had said in its favor, “Congress would have lost to the parties supporting partition. What would we have achieved then? ,
On 12 November 1969, former PM Indira Gandhi was expelled from the Congress Party.
Kerala’s decision became an example
The irony is that the decision taken in the southern state of Kerala on the initiative of Indira became a precedent and was repeated again and again in the future in different states of the country. The victory of the Communists in Kerala in 1957 worried the Congress. A decade had passed since independence. Congress got only 45 seats in the elections. Although the Communist Party did not get an absolute majority, it emerged as the largest party with 60 seats.
As soon as the government led by Namboodiripad came to power with the support of five independent MLAs, pictures of Marx and Stalin were installed in schools instead of Gandhi. Congress created an issue by terming the education bill brought by this government as anti-Christian and anti-Muslim. Indira, setting aside the party’s policy of distancing itself from the traditional communal parties, gave open support to the movements of the Muslim League, the Church and the Nair Sena.
While the streets of Kerala were disturbed by the movement, Indira Gandhi in Delhi was pressurizing the Nehru government for the dismissal of the Kerala government. She was successful. For the first time in the country, an elected government was dismissed using Article 356 of the Constitution. Nehru’s democratic image suffered a deep blow. Firoz Gandhi was in the front row among the bitter critics of this decision of Nehru on the initiative of Indira.
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